LSTN Beech Wood Troubadours: Warm Up Your Ears

Finding a good pair of headphones can be transformative- taking music you thought you knew well and reproducing it in a new way, emphasizing elements in a novel manner. But the effect can extend far beyond the music, since sound is only part of the experience. How they fit and feel, their materials and build quality, all come into play when they sit on your ears (or even slide into your bag). With the huge range of brands on the market today, it can pay to look beyond the manufacturers you know and cast a wider net.

The LSTN Beech Wood Troubadours headphones make a great first impression, as they are definitely easy on the eyes. The Aviator-style has become fairly popular, and relying on natural wood makes us think of a few others that we’ve seen before, like those from the House of Marley. And, to be clear, these aren’t just available in beech, but also three other handcrafted wood colors and finishes like classy zebra, dark ebony, and a mellow cherry. With a classic look and feel, they are sized in-between an on-ear and an over-ear set, so for some folks it could go either way.

Cables are detachable, and made from sturdy, nylon-wrapped cord, and there is a decent microphone and gold-plated connectors. The built-in remote control is meant to be universally-compatible, which means it works well with Blackberry and Android, but iPhone users won’t get quite the same features that they would with MFI (made-for-iPhone) certified control schemes and cables. Though not foldable, the LSTN LST1s come with a decent woven carrying bag. And they sound pretty good, not neutral monitors, but a little warm and definitely a bit shifted towards bass. There’s some distortion at the higher registers and upper volumes, and we weren’t impressed at their clarity, isolation, or dynamics- but were perfectly happy listening to mellower sounds like old-school R&B or acoustic rock, country, or folk. Our biggest issue, though, was that they were uncomfortable- the headband isn’t padded, adjustability it limited, and they can squeeze a bit.

About the Author

Greg Greg dreamed up the idea for the Truly Network while living in Hawaii, which began with a single site called TrulyObscure. In 2010, when advertisers and readers were requesting coverage beyond the scope of that site, TrulyNet was launched, reaching a broader audience over a variety of niche sites.
Formerly the head technology correspondent for the Des Moines Register at age 16, he has since lived and worked in five states and two countries, helping a list of organizations and companies that includes the United States Census Bureau, TripAdvisor, Events Photo Group, Berlitz, and Computer Geeks. He also served as the Content Strategy Manager for HearPlanet, a multi-platform app that has reached over a million users and has been featured in the New York Times, Hemispheres Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Fox Business News, PC Magazine, and even Apple’s own iPhone ads.
Greg has written as a restaurant critic and feature journalist for a number of national and international publications, including City Weekend Magazine, Red Egg Magazine, the Newton Daily News, Capital Change Magazine, and an arm of China Daily, Beijing Weekend. In addition, he has served as a consulting editor for the Foreign Language Press of Beijing, as well as a writer and editor for the George Washington University Hatchet, the school newspaper of his alma mater.
Originally from Iowa, Greg is currently living in the West Village of Manhattan.